Rick Perry now at 4% in South Carolina?

posted at 1:45 pm on November 29, 2011 by Jazz Shaw

What with all the discussions of the primary rules changes this season, (specifically that there won’t be any winner take all states until April) GOP hopefuls will be looking to make every vote – and delegate – count in the early states. But even if we do go deep into the spring, the usual early states are still a major prize to be contested, including South Carolina. If this new poll conducted for The Augusta Chronicle is any indication, Newt Gingrich has plenty of reason to be smiling, while the outlook is far less sunny for the frontrunner before the frontrunner before Newt.

Newt Gingrich has taken a commanding lead in the South Caro­lina Republican primary, with more than twice the support of Mitt Romney or Herman Cain, according to a poll conducted Monday evening for The Augusta Chronicle.

Gingrich, a former congressman from Georgia, has 38 percent, followed by 15 percent for Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts. Cain, a Georgia native, had 13 percent.

No other candidate reached double digits in the telephone survey conducted Monday night among 519 registered voters who say they’re likely to vote in the state’s GOP primary. InsiderAdvantage/Majority Opinion Research conducted the poll, and it has a 4 percent margin of error.

“Gingrich has consolidated a substantial lead among those who consider themselves Republicans, which are the more long-time GOP voters,” said InsiderAdvantage CEO Matt Towery. “The independents who had supported Cain are moving to Gingrich as well.”

That 4 percent margin of error is something to keep in mind when we look at how the rest of the field fared.

Perry managed to tie the margin of error, edged out in a photo finish by “Someone else.” The vote for “No opinion” looks impressive at 13%, certainly beating everyone else on that lower tier list, but it also shows the field beginning to gel there. Even if the entire undecided vote suddenly broke for either Mitt or Cain, it still doesn’t bring them up to Newt’s currently level of popularity, and the clock is running down.

Of course, with that said, the polls in every one of the early states have been pretty much of a roller coaster ride since summer. There’s probably time for at least one more rise and fall before the state’s residents actually go to the polls. But where do they go next if that’s the case? For the time being, anyone hoping that Cain’s former backers would wander back to the Perry camp seem to be facing disappointment.

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As Sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, I know that our porous southern border puts all of America at risk. It’s time we had a president who knew that, too.

That’s why I support Rick Perry for president, and I hope you will join me.

Unlike other candidates, Rick Perry has never been the choice of the political establishment, never been a paid lobbyist and never served in Congress or an Administration. He is the true outsider… the right man to bring desperately needed change to Washington.

No candidate has done more to secure the border than Rick Perry. As governor, he directed nearly $400 million in state tax dollars to secure the border with more boots on the ground.

As president, Rick Perry will stop illegal immigration and drug smugglers with a massive increase in manpower, including National Guard troops and thousands of new Border Patrol agents.

He will deploy new technology like predator drones, order federal officials to build more strategic fencing and end the dangerous Obama catch-and-release policy that allows thousands of illegal aliens to be released on American streets.

With Rick Perry as president, we can secure the border in just one year.

If you agree that America needs a president with the courage to stand up to the status quo in Washington, and a commitment to keeping America safe, I hope you will join me in supporting Rick Perry for president.

Reality is Perry peaked right out of the gate, and has been racing to the bottom ever since…..just like Thompson and Giuliani. Perry’s journey in this campaign is nothing like McCain’s. Last I checked, McCain never alienated a majority of voters by coming across as a drunken moron.

Perry is as much out of the running as Bachmann, Huntsman, and Santorum. In other words, he’s done….and he only has himself to blame.

xblade on November 29, 2011 at 5:27 PM

I was paying attention till you injected an unnecessary insult. You have a valid argument up to the point that you projected negatively onto the candidate. I can see your point how Perry could fit the Thompson -Giuliani model. I am patient, I will wait to see if he can regain some traction with the caucus and primary voters.